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Military and defense

National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman testifies before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, during a public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump's efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A career Army officer on Donald Trump’s National Security Council testified Tuesday he was duty-bound to object to the president’s clearly “improper” phone call seeking Ukrainian investigations of U.S. Democrats. Republicans answered him with doubts about his loyalty to the United...

Career Foreign Service officer George Kent and top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine William Taylor, right, are sworn in to testify during the first public impeachment hearing of the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, Wednesday Nov. 13, 2019 in Washington.(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wednesday’s start of public impeachment hearings in Congress marked the first time that the American public could watch and listen to the witnesses whose testimony is at the core of the Democrats’ investigation. In several hours of testimony, punctuated by occasional bickering...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Impeachable or not? Both Democrats and Republicans see the televised impeachment hearings starting this week as their first and best opportunity to shape public opinion about President Donald Trump's dealings with Ukraine. Democrats believe the testimony will paint a vivid picture...

Demonstrators set fire to a rendition of the U.S. flag during a rally in front of the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. Reviving decades-old cries of "Death to America," Iran on Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the 1979 student takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the 444-day hostage crisis that followed as tensions remain high over the country's collapsing nuclear deal with world powers. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Monday broke further away from its collapsing 2015 nuclear deal with world powers by doubling the number of advanced centrifuges it operates, linking the decision to U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the agreement over a year ago. The announcement — which...

This image from video made available by House TV on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019 shows the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington and the vote count to approve the rules for its impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. (House TV via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment resolution (all times local): 9:25 p.m. Democrats have swept a rules package for their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump through a divided House, as the chamber's first vote on the investigation highlighted...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif. gavels as the House votes 232-196 to pass resolution on impeachment procedure to move forward into the next phase of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. The resolution would authorize the next stage of impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, including establishing the format for open hearings, giving the House Committee on the Judiciary the final recommendation on impeachment, and allowing President Trump and his lawyers to attend events and question witnesses. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats swept a rules package for their impeachment probe of President Donald Trump through a divided House, as the chamber's first vote on the investigation highlighted the partisan breach the issue has only deepened. By 232-196, lawmakers on Thursday approved the procedures...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry (all times local): 8:10 p.m. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton is not agreeing to a voluntarily interview in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. The House committees leading the...

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. Schiff announced that former deputy national security adviser Charles Kupperman failed to appear to be interviewed in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump as lawmakers try to the determine if the president violated his oath of office by asking a foreign country, Ukraine, to investigate his political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter Biden. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — For only the fourth time in U.S. history, the House of Representatives has started a presidential impeachment inquiry. House committees are trying to determine if President Donald Trump violated his oath of office by asking a foreign country to investigate a political opponent. A...

In this Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 photo, Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters ride atop their armored personnel carrier to cross the border into Syria, in Akcakale, Sanliurfa province, southeastern Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants Syrian government forces to move out of areas near the Turkish border so it can resettle up to 2 million refugees there, his spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday, adding that Erdogan will raise the issue in talks next week with Syria's ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin. (AP Photo/Mehmet Guzel)

ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (AP) — Defense Secretary Mark Esper says that under the current plan all U.S. troops leaving Syria will go to western Iraq and the military will continue to conduct operations against the Islamic State group to prevent a resurgence in that country. Speaking to...

FILE - In tjhis Aug. 2017 file photo then Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks during a press briefing in Bridgewater, N.J. The book by former VA Secretary David Shulkin, obtained by The Associated Press, describes a March 6, 2017, conversation in the Oval Office where the president explored ways in which the administration could act quickly in shuttering the government-run VA medical centers that he viewed as poorly performing. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Eager for changes at the Department of Veterans Affairs, President Donald Trump toyed early on with issuing an executive order to close parts of the VA health system without consulting Congress, according to an upcoming book by his former VA secretary. In the book, obtained by The...